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Advice for noob upgrading computer

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club00

New Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
A little preface. My computer is in need of a good upgrade to play the newer games and just like a teenager should I went out and bought stuff without much research. Now the error of my ways has started to hit me so I'm looking for advice. I'll list some info about my computer, what I've bought, and whoever has something to say please do (Take note that if your advice fails me I will find you, follow you around, weep openly while pointing at you accusingly, and repeating "you've violated my innocence!" in a loud but broken voice). So lets get started...

My PC now:

OS:
Windows 7 Professional (x64) Service Pack 1

Processor:
2.33 gigahertz Intel Core2 Quad
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
Not hyper-threaded

System Model
HP-Pavilion NC829AA-ABA a6857c
Main Circuit Board:
Board: PEGATRON CORPORATION Benicia 1.01
Bus Clock: 1333 megahertz

Memory Modules:
8192 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
Slot 'DIMM0' has 2048 MB
Slot 'DIMM1' has 2048 MB
Slot 'DIMM2' has 2048 MB
Slot 'DIMM3' has 2048 MB

Video Card:
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 250 <--Failure as a gamer I know...

Well that's pretty much all I know. If you need more just ask and I'll find it.

What I've purchased and plan to install:

CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Intel Core i3-2130 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32130

The heart of my question pretty much boils down to 2 things: have I screwed up in my purchases and is there anything more I need; like a new motherboard to be specific. A pre-thanks to anyone who can give me their two-cents :)
 
You'll need a new motherboard, since the Sandy Bridge CPUs use a 1155 pin socket and the Core2 CPUs use LGA 775. You'll also need new memory - Sandy Bridge uses DDR3 and your system probably has DDR2.
 
Yeah new mb for that i3 and 8 gigs of ddr3. Also check the inside of that HP case and make sure that 570 will fit.

Since your not really gonna be OC'ing the i3 you don't need anything special for the mb. BIOSTAR H61MGC $50 and 10% off right now gets the job done just fine.

Once you have that it should be a pretty serious step up from that old core2. An SSD would be a huge boost also. Can get a OCZ Agility 3 90GB for a good price right now.
 
Thanks!

Thanks guys for the replies. Looks like I get to throw down some more money :-/ but hey, I'd rather pay to upgrade my PC then get stuck trashing and buying a new mac every few years only to be able to play wow and...minesweeper maybe? zing!
 
IMO the only thing I would use of that HP system, is to turn it into a HTPC system and just build yourself a whole new system.

But if you wanted to keep parts from that HP, You could reuse the DVD drive and Hard drives. I'd still get a new case and PSU.

So just turn that one into either a server or a HTPC and build a new one for about $1k and be better off.
 
Yea please buy a new case everything looks fine but i would have gone with an i5 2500k processor BUT since whats done is done i cant really blame you lol but just reuse the hard drive and cd drive and replace everything else
 
Yes you will have to get a new mobo, I would return the CPU and pick up a i5-2600k and a 1155 socket mobo.
I would also pick up a case, for a good cheep case, you cant go wrong with a Antech 300, it's a nice little case. but there are better..
 
Hello.
I also want your advise on upgrading rig.
I would either upgrade CPU or GPU. I could also get new: RAM, mobo, HDD, PSU, bigger case...

My current specs:
GPU: ASUS GTX285
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz
Mobo: Gigabyte S-series: EP45C-DS3R
PSU: Chieftec ATX 700W
CASE: Nexus sient midi tower
HDD: Sea Barracuda 1TB SATA2
RAM: Corsair 2x2GB DDR2 800MHz
ODD: LG DVDRW 22x SATA


I was thinking about buying:
Either i7 2600k/2700k or GTX 580 -----(Which would give most performance alone?)
Not sure about new mobo, RAM and everything else.

I heard about hardware bottlenecks. If I must, I'll upgrade several expensive components but I would want to avoid spending too much. I don't care about boot time (my pc was rebooted 2 weeks ago, it's always on). I just want to have more FPS on max settings at 1920x1080 on new games. I'm not sure about SSD, they seem expensive just for said boot time.

Important: Please tell me what upgrade would give me most performance and which wouldn't change much?
 
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I'd go for the cpu\mb\ram upgrade. It'll give you an all around faster system and breath a little more life into your 285. Could also consider getting a 2nd 285 used for $100'ish to keep cost down some.

Stick to a 2500K really, your not going to gain anything with a 2600K unless your doing work that will take advantage of the HT'ing.

Your looking at about $400 for a 2500K\Asrock Z68\8GB ddr3.
 
also if you going to upgrade to a 1155 cpu so you are going to have to upgrade your mobo (your choice it depends on what you want, msi, gigabyte, asus are good manufacturers) and your ram (doesn't really mater what ram you get just make sure that its 1600 speed and 9-9-9-24 timings (i think those are the right timings) and that they look good)
 
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